MEMORANDUM FOR: Science Writers and Editors on the Journal Press List: Biomarker for Esophageal Cancer Found in Bloodstream

Extract

November 8, 2000 (EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE 4 P.M. EST November 14)

A genetic alteration that may be a useful biomarker for cancer of the esophagus has been found in the blood plasma of 25% of patients with adenocarcinoma, one form of esophageal cancer.

Esophageal adenocarcinoma is one of the most rapidly increasing cancers in the Western world. Kazuyuki Kawakami, Ph.D., at the University of Southern California, Stephen J. Meltzer, M.D., at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and colleagues have found that a genetic alteration that is detectable in plasma—hypermethylation of the promoter region of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene—may provide a tool for staging the disease and monitoring the effectiveness of treatment. Their results are presented in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The study involved 52 patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, 32 with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, 43 with nondysplastic Barrett’s esophagus (lesions in which esophageal epithelium assumes an atypical columnar form), 20 with normal esophageal tissue, and 23 with gastritis. Esophageal tissue samples were available from all of these patients, and blood samples were available from most of them. DNA was isolated from both tissue and blood and analyzed for hypermethylation of the APC gene promoter region by real-time methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction.